Issue Number: IR-2015-54

Inside This Issue

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today reminded taxpayers who receive requests from the IRS to verify their identities that the Identity Verification Service website,idverify.irs.gov, offers the fastest, easiest way to complete the task.

Taxpayers may receive a letter when the IRS stops suspicious tax returns that have indications of being identity theft but contains a real taxpayer’s name and/or Social Security number. Only those taxpayers receiving Letter 5071C should access idverify.irs.gov.

The website will ask a series of questions that only the real taxpayer can answer.

Once the identity is verified, the taxpayers can confirm whether or not they filed the return in question. If they did not file the return, the IRS can take steps at that time to assist them. If they did file the return, it will take approximately six weeks to process it and issue a refund.

Letter 5071C is mailed through the U.S. Postal Service to the address on the return. It asks taxpayers to verify their identities in order for the IRS to complete processing of the returns if the taxpayers did file it or reject the returns if the taxpayers did not file it. The IRS does not request such information via email, nor will the IRS call a taxpayer directly to ask this information without you receiving a letter first. The letter number can be found in the upper corner of the page.

The letter gives taxpayers two options to contact the IRS and confirm whether or not they filed the return. Taxpayers may use the idverify.irs.gov site or call a toll-free number on the letter. Because of the high-volume on the toll-free numbers, the IRS-sponsored website, idverify.irs.gov, is the safest, fastest option for taxpayers with web access.

Taxpayers should have available their prior year tax return and their current year tax return, if they filed one, including supporting documents, such as Forms W-2 and 1099 and Schedules A and C.

Yesterday marked a month left in the tax season! We, you, are more than halfway done and in the home stretch. Please know how appreciative we are for your perseverance this season. I know from years of working with you that your driver is helping those taxpayers. With ACA, TaxWise issues and more snow and ice than many of us have seen for a while, this season has had extra hurdles to clear. Many of you are adding hours and/or days to schedules to try to get the tax returns “all” done. On behalf of those taxpayers, who may not quite know all the extra efforts you have made this year, thank you!

I also wanted to let you know that we have taken the literal list of issues with TaxWise and CCH very seriously. Veronica Coates, our program Technology Manager, has been in constant contact with them. Nearly all of the issues are resolved BUT we are very aware of the toll it took on you this season on top of ACA and weather. Veronica and I had a sit down meeting here at AARP Headquarters with the President of CCH SFS and the VP/General Manager of Commercial Services of CCH SFS. Also at the meeting were the IRS SPEC Director, our lead IRS executive, and our IRS Relationship Manager. It was a two-hour meeting with frank discussion around the issues, especially the outages and those issues still unresolved. We also spent significant time helping these most senior level staff at CCH SFS understand how you work at sites and how these issues affect you, especially when you have plenty of non-TaxWise issues going on as well. Our work model is unique with only volunteers in the field and volunteers leaders, not paid staff, managing sites, districts, states and regions and the additional detail was quite helpful. We will be traveling to their headquarters after the season to share our issues and work model (again) more broadly among a larger group of staff at CCH SFS. We did that a few years ago, but this is a good time to do it again as a post-mortem for learnings and improvements needed.

We also addressed and will continue to work with the IRS on issues of slow-to-press ACA procedures and needed clarifications, some even hitting after the season started. In the 15 years I have lead this program and including four of those I was a member of the full IRS and in-depth focused IRS Advisory Council, ACA was the largest single impactful tax issue I have ever seen. It also had need for substantial interaction with other agencies, which inherently complicates process development and communication. The good news is that the first year is near past us. Obviously changes and clarifications will happen but in the scheme of implementation management, getting the first year behind us is big!

It seems with the timing of the tax season, that we are simply destined to face all the weather issues the weather gremlins desire to throw at us. I do understand that getting issues we can resolve resolved will go a long way toward making the season more pleasant, tough weather or not, and allow you do what you do best, help taxpayers!

I want to end where I began, with a huge thanks! Your extra resilience to push through this year is very, very appreciated. Hoping your taxpayers are showing you the love and appreciation you deserve as it is the reason you give so much through this program and what you get back.

Bonnie Speedy – Vice President and National Director

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide

FYI: This is the process Larry and I will use when we find a client with a regected return and possible identity theft.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE MAIL-IN PACKAGE

The TaxAide program will provide you with a paper copy of your federal income tax forms: 1040 and all relevant “Schedules.”

Attach to Form 1040 copies of all forms W2 and 1099s (ie 1099R, 1099INT, …).

Taxpayer (and Spouse if Married Filing Jointly): Sign and date Form 1040 at the bottom of page 2.

Complete Form 14039. (If the TaxAide program has provided you with a partially completed form, please check to ensure that all their entered information is correct.)

Per “Section D” at the bottom of the 14039, obtain a photocopy of (at least one of) the requested documents.

Sign and date Form 14039 in Section F at the bottom of the second page.

Place Form 14039 with the photocopy of the documentation identified in Step 5 and the federal tax return (and attachments) in an envelope. If you are a Florida resident and you are expecting a refund, mail the package to

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

Austin, TX 73301– 0002

If you are a Florida resident and owe an amount, enclose your check or money order and mail the package to

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I have restocked the printer cart with about 1 million junk calories, so you should have plenty of sugar to keep you going while I am in Colorado.

As you probably all know, across the country many sites are reporting that values entered on returns are being dropped somehow before transmittal. We have had several verified occurrences here in the county.

Wes is suggesting the following:

The Tracking Summary (stand alone as well as combo) in the Client Letters will now show the AGI along with the REFUND or Amt DUE.

Counselors should print the stand alone Tracking summary after doing a final check of their entries, before the QR checks the return. The QR should then continue as normal if they find an error they should adjust the figures on the tracking summary. When they are done and create the E-FILE, they should print the Client letter Combo as normal and compare the AGI and Refund/Amt Due to the original tracking summary. Mark the combo as final tracking summary

If there is a difference, not accounted for by a QR action, the return should be reviewed again and any change recorded and documented.

The two copies of the tracking summary (final) on top and given to the ERO for final check if necessary and normal recoding/destruction.

****Or before QR, record the AGI and REFUND amounts on the I&I sheet.

Out—-> in

Barry->Wes

Martie->Karen Rose

Jennifer–>Jeanne

Catherine until 1 only

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Last week we filed 74 returns and 100% were accepted! Good job in being so careful with entering data, etc.

In reading TVOG, the national online forum for TaxAide, it seems like people around the country are experiencing forms with data disappearing. Counselors are sure that they entered the data and then when they go back to the form, NO DATA in some fields. Check you forms carefully, be sure to TAB out of a data field after you enter data or it is NOT sent to the cloud. If you are experiencing a form where a data field stays red, then suspect a problem!! If you have trouble moving from one form to the next, suspect a problem. Check the tree to be sure there are no red forms.